Ashleigh Marsh is a legend in the world of Woodchopping. Based on the central coast, her and her husband compete in the events with her family, as they have a rich history in the sport. Joined by her family, Ash has had a huge preparation process leading up to the show, in her words “cutting a lot of logs”. Training takes up 4-5 nights per week on the wood mill where her husband works and involves a process of rinse and repeat to be the best.
Ash’s son is also becoming obsessed with the sport from a young age, running out to watch whoever is chopping so he can get close to the action. At 6 years old, he’s half way to being at the minimum age of competing, and by that point he’ll be a master of the craft.
When stepping out into the arena, Ash describes the energy as absolutely wild. The worst part for Ash is being announced at the start and having to walk out in front of the crowds of up to 20,000 people. However it’s the energy from this moment that fuels the competition. The community involved around woodchopping is strong, growing up together with a lot of the girls, when another competitor won the world title last year, Ash was naturally disappointed but both went to celebrate together afterwards.
The competitions take Ash and her family around Australia and all over New Zealand, but The Royal Easter Show is the biggest of them all. Ash has been consistently attending since 2012, making the podium every year she’s competed. What keeps her coming back is the tough challenge and being able to compete with the best of the best in the world.
If you’re wanting to start out and give woodchopping a go, the advice is to just get stuck into it and stick with it. It’s a long process but a rewarding one seeing how far you can go since your start. And the community you’ll find in your journey will be there alongside you the whole way.
